M Prize For Anti-Aging Research Hits $1,000,000

Reason writes "William Haseltine of Human Genome Sciences (the 'father of regenerative medicine') has pushed the M Prize for anti-aging research - a project cofounded by biogerontologist Aubrey de Grey and Dave Gobel - over the $1,000,000 mark in pledges. Congratulations to all involved! Read the press release here."

Comments

Smart project, if you're seeking donations...

[JavaRob]

From the article:

The Methuselah Foundation has in a very short time built up a strong base of support, relying largely on donations from individuals, most of them middle class, most of them outside academia.

I'm actually not surprised that they've managed to rustle up this kind of cash from private donations so quickly. Think about it -- you've been working all your life to make a comfortable living, but now you're feeling old and are starting to think about:
1) your mortality
2) what to do with your money before you go

Introducing the perfect solution.... Not only is it a nice "I'm helping humanity" sort of cause, but you also stand a chance of pushing that deadline out a bit.

Re:Immortal

[kasparov]

Um... if people live forever, it doesn't mean that new people wouldn't be born who would need to obtain the 'immortality serum'. Birth rates would probably slow, but not stop. (And don't give me the overpopulation angle, necessity is the mother of invention.

But frankly, the people interested in helping people live forever probably aren't that concerened with doing it for profit in the first place. (And if you have ever seen a picture of Aubrey de Grey you will understand what I'm talking about.)

Don't discount non-commercialized medicine/research for eventually finding the 'cure for aging'. Who would have thought that someone would release a 'free' enterprise-grade operating system when they could actually charge for it indefinitely with upgrades and service packs.

Re:You want to be immortal to do exactly what?

[some guy I know]

For myself, I think a century in good health would be more than enough.

Wait'll you hit 50.
I found it very enlightening to be on the other side of "half my life".
The older I get, the more I think that, no, one century will probably not be enough.
A millenium, maybe, but even then ...
I want to see the future.
I want to go to the stars.
There are four ways to do this:

1. Build a time machine and go to the future that way (highly unlikely).
2. Build a spacecraft whose velocity approaches that of the speed of light, so that time within it slows down, and ride that to the stars, like Ender Wiggin and his siblings (unlikely in my lifetime, if my lifetime extends only another 50-75 years).
3. Freeze myself, like Fry in Futurama (possibly).
4. Undergo medical procedures and live a lifestyle designed to increase my lifespan (most likely).

The great advantage of option 4 is that I will be able to perceive and experience the intervening years.
I think that it will be fun, for the most part.